KHL TV news and discussion

KHL TV just recently celebrated its 3rd year anniversary. But it's constantly improving so there are a lot of news to discuss as well as a lot of issues to address. Why don't we keep it here?

KHL TV is available on most of cable and satellite networks in Russia and CIS countries. The channel has begun broadcasting on October the 1st 2009. Since then it has grown to 23 million subscribers with more than 600 live broadcasts. This year KHL launched HD simulcast version of their channel.

Here is a list of the TV picture quality for home games of each team. Aspect ratio and definition.

Avangard

16:9 HD

Avtomobilist

4:3 SD

Ak Bars

16:9 SD

Amur

16:9 HD

Atlant

16:9 HD

Barys

4:3 SD

Vityaz

16:9 HD

Dinamo Minsk

16:9 HD

Dynamo Moscow

16:9 HD

Dinamo Riga

16:9 SD

Donbass

16:9 HD

Lev

16:9 SD

Lokomotiv

4:3 SD

Metallurg Magnitogorsk

4:3 SD

Metallurg Novokuznetsk

4:3 SD

Neftekhimik

4:3 SD

Salavat Yulaev

16:9 HD

Severstal

4:3 SD

Sibir

4:3 SD

SKA

16:9 HD

Slovan

16:9 SD

Spartak

16:9 HD

Torpedo

4:3 SD

Traktor

4:3 SD

CSKA

16:9 HD

Yugra

4:3 SD

Teams that confirmed on getting HD are Ak Bars and Avtomobilist. Traktor should get HD next season. The list will be updated.

p.s. If you're wondering why some logos are missing, I had to chose 24... and it was random.

Yes, sure. They have local affiliated branches in some regions which will continue to cover events in those regions after Olympics. The amount of purchased equipment, that is 12 ob vans and a lot of mobile satellite stations, is too big for a single region, so they're trying to cover as much of Russia's territory as possible, not to mention that they're earning money as well.

A little bit outdated news, but still relevant. KHL will share their revenues from advertisements and TV deals with the clubs in the near future. I'd imagine with 23 million subscribers, we're talking about operating profit of at least $10mln monthly from KHL TV alone. I gues for teams with a year budget of 10 mln, getting a couple of millions from tv deals is gonna be big. Even more so for the teams like Amur or Riga who're making ~$4 million on ticket sales.

A little bit outdated news, but still relevant. KHL will share their revenues from advertisements and TV deals with the clubs in the near future. I'd imagine with 23 million subscribers, we're talking about operating profit of at least $10mln monthly from KHL TV alone. I gues for teams with a year budget of 10 mln, getting a couple of millions from tv deals is gonna be big. Even more so for the teams like Amur or Riga who're making ~$4 million on ticket sales.

Hey Ult, thanks for puting this together, pretty interesting stuff... Is the goal to make all teams have HD within the next few years? Also, is it 23 mill. subscribers to a seperate KHL TV channel, or is this 23 million subscribers to some package that KHLtv is mandatory to? So this channel gives some of the revenues back to the teams? If so then this is a great step for the business model of the league. Consider that the NBA only had 8 million subscribers when it started and NHL network was projected around those figures, not sure where those numbers are at now...

A little bit outdated news, but still relevant. KHL will share their revenues from advertisements and TV deals with the clubs in the near future. I'd imagine with 23 million subscribers, we're talking about operating profit of at least $10mln monthly from KHL TV alone. I gues for teams with a year budget of 10 mln, getting a couple of millions from tv deals is gonna be big. Even more so for the teams like Amur or Riga who're making ~$4 million on ticket sales.

thx again.

yep, I read about "revenue sharing" in KHL. Just to add your post, during Channel One Cup (december 2012) is taking place a meeting of KHL executives and club owners where they discuss new model of operating. Main issues are advertasing places on ice/jerseys which belongs to KHL (60% ???), sharing of revenues from these advs, tv deals sharing (all income belongs to KHL, not clubs) etc.

Hey Ult, thanks for puting this together, pretty interesting stuff... Is the goal to make all teams have HD within the next few years? Also, is it 23 mill. subscribers to a seperate KHL TV channel, or is this 23 million subscribers to some package that KHLtv is mandatory to? So this channel giives some of the revenues back to the teams? If so then this is a great step for the business model of the league. Consider that the NBA only has 8 million subscribers and NHL network is projected around those figures...

Yes, that is the main goal.

It depends on provider. Some have KHL TV as the separate package, for example beeline offers you KHL TV for 50 rubles per month, in some cases KHL TV is part of sports bundles (7-10 channels for the price of 200 rubles or something like that), but Trikolor has it in its biggest package Maximum HD, and the whole pack is pretty cheap overall. But Trikolor is a satellite network, and they make most of their profits selling satellite equipment, so it's hard to tell how much KHL makes from that deal.

KHL haven't been sharing their revenues, but now clubs are starting to press them, as it's obvious they're making a lot of money. The KHL itself as organization has been profitable since 2009. So it's time for the next step. It hasn't been made yet, but according to GM of some teams it's just a matter of time.

As for KHL TV, it has grown from 3 to 23 million in 3 years. And they have a lot of uncovered ground. Right now they made KHL HD as the separate channel, what will let them to charge the same viewers again for the pleasure of watching games in HD. And if they make a better product, it'll certainly bring even more viewers.

Do you guys think that CSKA-Megafon case has something to do with this "process of revenue sharing in KHL"? I can imagine that wealthy club can make pressure on league by behaviou like CSKA(+SKA)-Megafon case

Very big interview with the head of KHL TV department. Some important bits:

- She's happy with the business situation in the Central Europe i.e. Czech Republic and Slovakia. They're negotiating a long-term contract. Hungary is in the list as well.

- This season KHL games were not available in Sweden and Finland, since Viasat deal has come to an end. But in the end they've come to an agreement with large channels in said countries. She's not sure when they'll begin to air games, but playoff will be covered.

- It's likely that Setanta UK will air KHL games in England.

- Negotiations with Asian countries are still in early phase. It's too early to tell if something comes out of this.

- ESPN has no complaints about picture quality.

- Traktor is working on getting new TV equipment. She encourages other teams to follow suit.

Do you guys think that CSKA-Megafon case has something to do with this "process of revenue sharing in KHL"? I can imagine that wealthy club can make pressure on league by behaviou like CSKA(+SKA)-Megafon case

Nah, I don't think Rosneft cares about money if they're willing to pay KHL sponsor just to not wear its logo.

Small update. Right now 3 TV crews, from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan, are undergoing refresher course. All three for 24 cam OB vans. The course will finish on 25th of November, so no HD in Kazan till then.

The broadcast quality of the Yaroslavl vs. Slovan game right now is a disaster. (Watching it live on regular TV, the Czech Sport 2 channel.) The picture quality looks as if you were watching an archived game from the 1980s. No time whatsoever is shown on the screen, so you have no idea how any minutes are left in the period or in a penalty. And the signal broke down about 4 times in the opening 20 minutes of the broadcast for a minute or so each.

PS: Just as I finished typing this, the time finally appeared on the screen -- midway through the 1st period.